Sharpening the wiper blades is pretty self explanatory, at the same time I changed the blinker fluid - there I went MOPAR oil filter/Mobil1 10W30.
At the same time I changed out to a K&N air filter, and changed the spark plugs to Autolite APP985's.
No idea when the last service was on most of these things, no records from the PO. That said the gap on the old Champion spark plugs I removed was about .080" so it has probably been a scary long time overdue. I have had this TJ for about 5,000 miles so shame on me too. Only basic service I had performed when I received it was change of the thermostat and at that time flush and filled the coolant to HOAT.
On to the questions, yes I searched. Really I did.
1. I started to lubricate the chassis, however only found the front control arm and swaybar grease fittings. Where are the others? Haynes says on the driveshaft and universals, but I couldn't find them. Al the searches I did on this seem to say 'look around' or 'there are about six'. More detail would be helpful!
2. The brake fluid in the reservoir looks like coffee. I'd like to bleed it out and refresh it. I have performed this on motorcycles in the past however probably not anything bigger than that. Seems pretty straightforward though (open bleeder, pump pedal, don't let reservoir suck air, have a friend help, et cetera), but is there anything Jeep specific I should know beforehand?
3. And lastly, I am assuming the power steering fluid might be 15 years old too. Definitely have never 'flushed' a PS system. What is procedure to flush and fill or empty and fill this?
I plan on changing all the driveline fluids too, however the writeups and Haynes seem pretty clear so no Q's there yet. Anything else 'basic maintenance' regarding fluids I may have missed?
Hey Digger and everyone else, I am thankful for the time it took you to read my post.
I know this is going to sound a bit over the top, but I am not looking for opinions on synthetic versus dino, K&N versus regular, or Champion versus Autolite. Been there, done that, did my research and made my choices.
I really am looking for knowledgeable and concise direction on the three questions I posted. Thanks!
You don't mention yr/model of your Jeep. Some older Jeeps that I've had over the years have had needle-nose grease fittings on drive shaft cardion and U-Joints, instead of the usual Zirk grease fittings. These look like small round holes and require a needle-nose adapter on your grease gun. Sometimes, they are easily covered by mud and hidden. Again, don't know if this applies to your particular model.
On the brake question. Do not just open the bleeder and pump the brakes, you will suck air in through the bleeder.
You can go to the dollar store and buy a turkey baster to suck all the old nasty fluid out of the master cylinder. Then fill it with fresh fluid and replace the cap. Then have a buddy pump the brake and hold it, then you open the bleeder. It's best to have a piece of rubber tubing on the bleeder so that you can control where the fluid goes otherwise you'll have a mess plus if you use clear tubing you can see when the fluid coming out is clear. Make sure to keep an eye on the fluid level in the master and keep refilling as needed. Bleed all 4 corners until the fluid comes out clear.
Greasing - there are no grease fittings on the stock control arms or swaybar links. If you really want to lube them you can take them apart and smear grease on them but I would just save up for a good set of replacement control arms.
You ask very basic questions but no one know what driveshaft you have as you may or may not have a SYE with aftermarket shaft
Brake fluid change is suck out resivour then add fresh new not exposed to air and bleed to clean fluid each wheel brake never letting resivour go dry takes two peephole or speed bleeder or pump
PS line the one with the hose clamp is return so that is where you collect as your flush
Go either to Morris 4x4 web page knowledge base to look at FSM for your year and print individual pages
Or go to jeepslimited.com join for free and download a free PDF of factory service manual
Just pick the right one for your year
That way you can view diagrams of the driveshaft lube points
Grit kills slow not fast
Paper filters were a big improvement over the oil soaked steel gauze air filters that came on my TR-3 and Willis jeep station wagon so hate to see people regress but what ever floats your boat
Just remember it is jeepslimited not the unlimited site no free FSM there
You can bleed your brakes by yourself. You will need;
a 32 oz. Gatorade or similar bottle
a few feet of 5/16" or 1/4" clear tubing
2, maybe 3 quarts of new brake fluid
Fill the bottle 1/4 full with new brake fluid. With the cap still off drill a hole in the cap of the bottle that the hose will fit through. Put the tubing through the cap until it is well in the new fluid, put the cap on the bottle, connect the other end to the bleeder valve. With a turkey baster suck as much of the old fluid out of the MC as possible and replace with new fluid. Pump the brakes, open the bleeder valve with the hose and bottle attached, once fluid stops coming out close the bleeder valve. Repeat as many times as needed until clean brake fluid comes out of all 4 bleeders. Start at passenger rear then driver rear, passenger front, driver front will be last. Continually check and fill MC with clean fluid as needed, do not let the fluid get to the tops of the rubber cups at the bottom of the MC or you will suck air into the system.
When flushing you don't even have to close the bleeders because the bleeder hose is in fluid and will not suck in any air. You can leave the bleeder open and just pump new fluid through the system, just make sure the MC has enough fluid in it at all times. You may have to use the traditional method to bleed your brakes afterwards but it will only take 2 or 3 times per wheel if you have to do it at all.
As far as the power steering fluid goes-the only thing the dealer sells in the +4 ATF fluid as a replacement (and it is supposed to be different than the OEM fluid for yr 2000<. Get as much of the old out as you can with a sipon or turkey baster. fill with + 4 Chrysler ATF, run about a week and do it again. That is what I had to do with mine. No problems, no leaks. that was about 2500 miles ago.
The recommended power steering fluid for 2002 and older TJs which use the Saginaw steering system is plain old power steering fluid. It wasn't until 2003 when Jeep switched to the Mercedes steering system where they changed the recommendation to ATF+4. I can't say ATF+4 won't work in the older Saginaw but I'd personally stick with the factory recommended power steering fluid. Go with synthetic power steering fluid when you can find it, it works better when hot (the steering system won't stiffen up as much) and it won't boil over at lower temps like conventional power steering fluid will.
Thanks for clarifying Jerry - if I swap it over to synthetic (which I would prefer) can I co-mingle the old non-syn and the new syn? I.e. following kawzak's suggestion of turkey basting out the old fluid and adding new, rechecking later to top up.
You can bleed your brakes by yourself. You will need;
a 32 oz. Gatorade or similar bottle
a few feet of 5/16" or 1/4" clear tubing
2, maybe 3 quarts of new brake fluid
Fill the bottle 1/4 full with new brake fluid. With the cap still off drill a hole in the cap of the bottle that the hose will fit through. Put the tubing through the cap until it is well in the new fluid, put the cap on the bottle, connect the other end to the bleeder valve. With a turkey baster suck as much of the old fluid out of the MC as possible and replace with new fluid. Pump the brakes, open the bleeder valve with the hose and bottle attached, once fluid stops coming out close the bleeder valve. Repeat as many times as needed until clean brake fluid comes out of all 4 bleeders. Start at passenger rear then driver rear, passenger front, driver front will be last. Continually check and fill MC with clean fluid as needed, do not let the fluid get to the tops of the rubber cups at the bottom of the MC or you will suck air into the system.
When flushing you don't even have to close the bleeders because the bleeder hose is in fluid and will not suck in any air. You can leave the bleeder open and just pump new fluid through the system, just make sure the MC has enough fluid in it at all times. You may have to use the traditional method to bleed your brakes afterwards but it will only take 2 or 3 times per wheel if you have to do it at all.
As far as the power steering fluid goes-the only thing the dealer sells in the +4 ATF fluid as a replacement (and it is supposed to be different than the OEM fluid for yr 2000<. Get as much of the old out as you can with a sipon or turkey baster. fill with + 4 Chrysler ATF, run about a week and do it again. That is what I had to do with mine. No problems, no leaks. that was about 2500 miles ago.
The recommended power steering fluid for 2002 and older TJs which use the Saginaw steering system is plain old power steering fluid. It wasn't until 2003 when Jeep switched to the Mercedes steering system where they changed the recommendation to ATF+4. I can't say ATF+4 won't work in the older Saginaw but I'd personally stick with the factory recommended power steering fluid. Go with synthetic power steering fluid when you can find it, it works better when hot (the steering system won't stiffen up as much) and it won't boil over at lower temps like conventional power steering fluid will.
The place to start is visiting a salvage yard-or you can just check on line-like factory air filter box,lid, tube, and see what comes up. Some times you can by clean used parts reasonable (from a reputable sorce) and they ship to your door.
P.S. Since I don't think this question was ever answered, there are only 7 zerk (grease) fittings and they're all on the front end. There are no zerk fittings on any of the u-joints or driveshafts. Haynes and Chiltons manuals are both very consistent about one thing... their manuals can't be relied upon for accurate information.
And for your engine's sake, I'm still recommending you get rid of that POS K&N air filter. K&N air filters were not designed for the dusty conditions Jeeps are commonly found in.
Thanks for the note Jerry, it took until I did the OME springs last week for me to have a thorough look and find all of the zerks, realizing the u-joints and driveshafts were zerkless.
K&N - FWIW, every time I open my engine bay and glance at my airbox I think of you Jerry.
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